Archery bows are tools which have existed since the earliest days of man. The earliest archery tools were used primarily as weapons of war and for hunting food. Typically, primitive bows consisted of a stick formed from resilient wood attached at terminal extremities by means of a string whereby the resilient stick formed a sort of "spring" which stored energy upon displacement of the bow from a neutral position to a cocked position. Upon release of the string, the stick would return to its original somewhat unstressed state and would propel an arrow carried on the string. This type of bow evolved into a "long" bow for greater power.
Recurve bows (i.e., where the limb tips arc away from the drawstring) have only been in existence for perhaps the last fifty years, and only upon the advent of lamination technology which allows a plurality of thin strips of material, such as wood, to be built up one upon the other so that more resiliency could be fabricated into the bow. As the quest for a bow having more power evolved, a tradeoff was experienced in the ability to control the bow at maximum draw. With long and recurve bows, the force increases as the degree of "draw" (i.e., the degree to which the bow has been cocked) increases.
Within the last thirty years compound bows, characterized by the utilization of cams or eccentric wheels, have been developed to create a mechanical advantage and change the traditional, linearly increasing force curve by the intercession of these mechanical elements. Compound bows, with their cams or eccentric wheels, have become complex and cumbersome instruments.
Recently, bows have been developed which incorporate the mechanical advantages associated with compound bows coupled with recurved limbs, but these bows are even more complex than the modern compound bows and, like the compound bow require cams or eccentric wheels to develop the desired draw characteristics popular with today's archers.
By and large, modem archery bows are used for hunting and target archery. There is a need for a bow which provides high performance, but which also is relatively simple in design, is easy and safe to use and maintain in proper working order to thereby provide appeal to modem archers who shoot as a form of recreation and therefore have an aversion to highly unreliable or complex bow technologies.
The following prior art reflects the state of the art of which applicant is aware and is included herewith to discharge applicant's acknowledged duty to disclose relevant prior art. It is stipulated, however, that none of these references teach singly nor render obvious when considered in any conceivable combination the nexus of the instant invention as disclosed in greater detail hereinafter and as particularly claimed.
______________________________________ INVENTOR PATENT NO. ISSUE DATE ______________________________________ Storer 3,595,213 July 27, 1971 Nishioka 3,744,473 July 10, 1973 Ketchum 3,990,425 November 9, 1976 Groves, et al. 3,993,039 November 23, 1976 Jones 4,227,509 October 14, 1980 Islas 4,287,867 September 8, 1981 Simonds, et al. 4,368,718 January 18, 1983 Simonds 4,438,753 March 27, 1984 Hayes 4,478,203 October 23, 1984 Jennings 4,561,413 December 31, 1985 Kudlacek 4,593,674 June 10, 1986 Imes 4,646,708 March 3, 1987 Humphrey 4,667,649 May 26, 1987 Chattin 4,724,820 February 16, 1988 Lester 4,781,168 November 1, 1988 Bozek 4,858,588 August 22, 1989 Colley, et al. 4,903,677 February 27, 1990 ______________________________________
Islas teaches the use of a complex cam driven compound bow.
Lester is another example of a complicated bow structure.
The other prior art listed above, but not specifically discussed, teach other devices for recurve bows and further catalog the prior art of which the applicant is aware. These references diverge even more starkly from the references specifically distinguished above.